Improvement in needles for sewing



B. GARVEY.

Sewing-Machine Needle.

No. 17,272. Patented May 12. 1857.

L v? m N. PETERS. Pholwuihngnpher, Wanuinglnn, D. C.

UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No; I7,272, dated May 12,I837.

To all whom it may concern.-

invented a new and Improved Needle for Sewing; and I do hereby declarethat the follow ing is a full and exact description thereof, ref erencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to'the letters of referencemarked thereon.

Figure I is a view'of the needle with the eye at the head, and having aslit leading into the eye from the direction of the point. Fig. II is aview of the needle with the eye near the point, and a slit leading intothe eye from the direction of the point. Fig. III is a view of theneedle with the eye farther from the head than in Fig. I, and having apart of the shank projecting beyond the eye to guide the thread into theslit and so into the eye, the slit being made from the direction of thehead 5 and Fig. IV is a view of the needle having its eye near thepoint, and a slit leading from the direction of the head into the eyeand beginning at any distance from the eye.

In each of these figures the part marked A is the part containing theeye. B is the part which guides the thread into the eye, and thenconfines the thread in the eye, and the opening between A and B is theslit or passage for the thread, herein referred to.

The nature of my invention consists in making a slit or passage into theeye of a needle for the purpose of admitting the thread by its bight ormiddle, instead of pushing it through the eye end foremost, so that theblind and others may thread their needles with ease by aid of the senseof touch alone.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed more fully to explain its construction and operation.

I make my needles in the usual manner, of any size or shape, and havingthe eye in any part of the needle. The eye may be punched or drilled,and the slit leading into it may be out by a chisel or by a fine saw,the form and direction of the slit being modified to suit the use forwhich the needle is intended. The needle may then be ground, pointed,and polished in the usual manner, when it will be fit for use. It maythen be threaded by straining the threadacross the part marked B andmoving it in the direction of the eye until it enters the slit, when itspressure forces the parts A and B asunder sufficiently to admit it intothe eye, the parts A and R then springposition, and the ing back totheir original thread is held in the eye.

Now, I donot claim any peculiar process for making such needles. Neitherdo I claim an open eyed needle, nor a needle with a spring attached toany part of it; but

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

A sewing-needle having a self-closed eye, with a slit leading outwardlyand made to terminate at a point more or less remote from the eye,through which slit the thread may be forced into. the eye, in the mannerand for the purposes substantially as described in my specification.BENJAMIN GARVEY. WVitnesses:

GEO. B. GRANNIss, RICHARD M. OWEN.

